Combination parachute and crash harness



1951 R. c. HEFFERNAN ET AL 2,542,248

COMBINATION PARACHUTE AND CRASH HARNESS Filed Jan. 30, 1947 4Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS Rober C. Heffernqn Fred N. Dlckerman ATTO RN EY1951 R. c. HEFFERNAN ET AL 2,542,243

- COMBINATION PARACHUTE AND CRASHYHARNESS Filed Jan. 30, 1947 4Sheets-$heet 2 INVENTORS Roberl BY Fred N.D|ckermgn C. HeffernanATTORNEY Feb. 20, 1951 R. c. HEFFERNAN ET AL 2,542,243

COMBINATION PARACHUTE AND CRASH HARNESS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 50,1947 lNVENT ORS Robefl C. Heffernan BY Fred N. Dlckerman ATTDRNEY Feb.20, 1951 I R. c. HEFFER NAIQ El AL 2,542,248

COMBINATION PARACHUTE AND CRASH HARNESS Filed Jan. 30, 1947 Y 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Rober+ C. Heffernun Fred N. D|ckermcm ATTORNEY Fig 12INVENTORS Patented Feb. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINATIONPARACHUTE AND CRASH HARNESS Application January 30, 1947, Serial No.725,237

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a combined parachute and crash harnessparticularly designed for but not limited to the use of fighter pilots.

It is known to provide a harness for the pilot of an. aircraft which hewears when he enters or leaves the aircraft and which he attaches to aparachute and other packs stored in the seat during flight.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a parachute pack andharness combination which is normally a part of the aircraft seatequipment and which the pilot attaches to his person only when he takeshis place in the seat.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a combinedparachute and crash harness which is secured to the pilots seat by quickrelease mechanism and to which the pilot attaches himself after he isseated in the aircraft.

Another object of the invention is the provision of improved means forconnecting a harness of the above type to the seat either yieldingly orrigidly at the Will of the occupant.

Another object of the invention is the provision of improved quickrelease mechanism for detachably connecting the harness to the seat andreleasably securing the harness to the pilot.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the claims and the following description of theaccompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of the invention.

In these drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the harness and seat packs with theparts of the harness shown in the position they assume when attached tothe wearer;

Fig. 2 is a rear perspective view of the seat showing the quick releasemechanism for attaching the harness to the seat;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view, partly in section, of the quickrelease connection between the harness and the seat back;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the connection released;

Fig. 5 is a detail view on an enlarged scale, of the lower, left-handconnection between the harness and the seat;

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the connection released;

Fig. '7 is a detail view showing the pilot operated mechanism forsimultaneously releasing the several connections between the seat andthe harness;

Figs. 8 and 9 are detail views in the connected and disconnectedpositions respectively of an emergency release;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the quick-release harness buckle withthe cover shown in phantom;

Fig. 11 is an end view of the buckle with part of the cover broken away;

Fig. 12 is a plan view of the buckle with parts broken away; and

Fig. 13 is a detail of a special harness hook which cooperates with thequick-release buckle.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the pilots seat comprises bucket type backand bottom portions generally indicated at l9 and I2 respectively towhich the harness, generally indicated. at M, is normally, althoughreleasably, attached.

The bottom portion of the seat includes a frame having a front rail It,divided in the middle, and integral side rails l8, and a back rail 32through which a rod 33 passes, said rod 33 having threaded ends 34 whichextend through the ends of side rails 18 and 39 of the seat frames andare pivoted on a seat supporting frame (not shown). The frame isattached to the bucket 20 in which the usual parachute pack 22 and ajungle kit 24 or other pack, are housed beneath a seat cushion 2B. Theback portion of the seat includes a frame having a top rail 28 andintegral side rails 30 which terminate in bifurcated lower ends. Theframe for the back portion of the seat carries a bucket 36 which mayhouse a back pack parachute, if one is used, and if desired a backcushion.

The harness M includes the usual suspension straps, or risers, 38 theends of which are attached to the shroud lines of the parachute. When apilot is suspended from the open parachute, the risers extend downwardlyin front of him as indicated at 49 and pass beneath the cushion 26 toprovide a seat sling 52. When the parachute is stowed, as illustrated,the risers 38 pass from the sling up over the pilots shoulders, down hisback at each side and beneath the seat packs to the parachute.

In accordance with this invention, the harness 14 not only serves theusual function of a parachute harness but also serves, when theparachute is not in use, as a pilots shoulder harness and a pilotssafety belt by which the pilot is normally secured to the seat.

The shoulder harness is made of a single ply of strap material thecenter of which forms a loop 44 which passes around the pilots back atabout waist height from whence it extends forward at each side of thepilot and is threaded through passages 46 formed between plies of theriser portions 4|], through hooks 48 which are detachably connected tothe upper corners of a quick-release buckle 50, through two-ringadjusting members 52 on risers 38, over the pilots shoulders, throughrings 53 which are detachably connected to the seat back I0, anddiagonally across his back where they cross behind the back cushion 54.The shoulder straps then xtend forward again at the pilots sides throughpassages 55' formed between plies of risers 38, through the smaller ringof a double ring 55 and thence rearwardly again to risers 38 where thetwo ends are secured between the plies of said 7 risers. Buckles 58 areprovided just below hooks 48 b means of which the length .of loop 4 3can be adjusted. Also the double rings 55 are oonnected to the seat byloops 60 which-pass through said rings, about the risers 38 and throughrings 62 which are connected to the seat by quickrelease emergency pins64 and pilot controlled quick-release mechanism 65 hereinafterdescribed.

The pilots safety belt comprises two single ply loops 66 and '68 havingadjusting buckles Ii! therein. The lower ends of the loops are connectedbetween the plies of the seat sling at I2 and extend through a central,front cut-away portion 69 of .cushion 26 outwardly over the pilotsthighs, through the large rings M of double rings 56 and terminate inhooks 48 which are rele-asably connected to the lower corners of thequick-release buckle 50. It will be noted that the larger rings 9 I4 ofdouble rings 56 are large enough to permit the connector hooks 58 to bereadily passed therethrough.

It will be evident that with the two shoulder harness rings 53 connectedto the seat back and the safety belt rings 62 connected to the seat atopposite sides thereof, the pilot is supported both at his waist and athis shoulders against forces tending to elevate him or to throw himforward out of the seat.

The connection of rings 53 of the shoulder harness to the seat may be arelatively unyielding one or, at the pilot s discretion, may beyielding. To this end an inertia reel I is attached to the seat back(Fig. 2) which contains a spring for maintaining tension on a cablewound around a reel therein (not shown) one end I8 of which extends outof the housing 80 and i attached to a strap 82 which passes upwardlyover the seat back rail 28 between two upstanding lugs 0% to the latterof which seat adjusting mechanism (not shown) is adapted to beconnected. The strap is connected to rings 53 by pilot controlledquickrelease mechanism generall indicated at 85 and shown in detail inFigs. 3 and 4. A cable 83 which is under the control of the pilotoperates reel releasing mechanism whereby the pilot, by exerting a pullon cable '88, can release the reel and permit cable I8 to unwind againstthe action of the spring, whil by releasing cable 88 the reel will beautomatically locked.

The shoulder harness release mechanism shown in Figs. 3 and 4 includes aslotted housing 90 having a ring 92 to which strap 82 is secured and acooperating tongue 9 which is receivable in the slot 56 in the housingthrough the open end of the slot. The housing has a cylindrical boss 97on its bottom face and a cylindrical passage 28 extends through saidhousing and boss in which a locking plunger I00 is reciprocable. Thetongue 96 also has a mating passage I02 through which the plungerextends to lock the tongue to the housing. Whenever tongue 94 is in thehousing and the plunger I00 is in the position shown in Fig. 3, theplunger protrudes above the housing 90 and is held in looking positionby a safety wire Hi l which is threaded through a passage in theprotruding end of plunger I00. Wire I04 is soft enough so that a strongpull on cable I05 attached to plunger I will shear the Wire and permitthe plunger to move to the Fig. 4 position thereof wherein the plungeris completely below the tongue 94 and the latter is free to move out ofthe housing. The cable I06 passes through a sheath I08 which is securedat one end to boss Ell and which terminates at its other end adjacent atwo-diameter cable spool I Ill (Fig. 7). The end of cable I06 is securedto the periphery of the smaller diameter portion II2 of cable spool IIOat I as shown in this figure. The emergency release pin IIO connects aring H3 with tongue 94 and ring H8 is in turn connected to rings 53 byshort straps I20 best shown in Fig. 2. It will be evident that in theevent that the quick release 86 fails to operate the .pilot can withdrawpin I I6 and release the shoulder harness.

One of the safety belt quick-release connections 65 is shown in Figs. 5and 6. This includes a U-shaped link I22 the close-d end of which ispivo-tally supported on the threaded .end 34 of rod 33 between thefurcations of side rail 32 and extendsforwardly toward rings 62 of thesafety belt previously described. A bellcrank shaped latch I24 pivotedat I25 between the extended arms of link I22 has a latch face I26 which,in the position of the latch in Fig. 5, engages a pin I21 .on atwo-pronged lug I28 which enters into slots I30 in the end link I22. LugI28 is connected by emergency release pin .64 with ring 62 as previouslydescribed.

The latch I24 is secured in the latching position of Fig. 5 by a safetywire I which passes through overlying portions of latch I26 and linkI22. A cable I38 is connected to an outstanding arm I40 of latch I25 andpasses through acable sheath I02, the corresponding end of which isfixed to a bracket I44 secured on the threaded end 34 of rod 33 by a nutI46. The two cables I38 from the quick-release connections 65 at the0pposite sides of the seat are secured to the upper and lowerperipheries of cable spool H2 at I48 and I50 as is best shown in Fig. 7.

It will be evident from Fig. '7 that clockwise rotation of cable spoolH2 will cause simultaneous shortening of cables I06 and I38 to effectunlocking of the shoulder harness connection 95 and the two safety beltconnections 65. The rotation of spool H0 is accomplished by a cable I52secured to the periphery of the larger diameter of the spool at I50 andextended through a cable sheath I56 (Fig. 2) which terminates adjacent apulley I58 journalled in a clip I60 carried by the bucket 20 0f the seatbottom directly beneath the cut-away portion Bil in the front edge ofseat cushion 26. Cable I52 is attached to a hand grip I64 which rests ina saddle formed in the intermediate cut-away portion of rail It at thefront of the seat. It will be noted that by having the cable I52attached to the larger diameter of spool III} and the cables I06 and I38secured to the smaller diameter portion I I2, sufiicient mechanicaladvantage is obtained to shear the safety wires I04 and I36 and effectrelease of the entire harness from the seat upon pulling the is madeover water. To this end the quick-release buckle 50 is provided at aconvenient position at the front of the harness.

Referring to Figs. 10, 11, and 12 the base of buckle 53 comprises aWelded assembly including a generally rectangular bottom plateIlilhaving holes H2 at the four corners of the plate and an hole I12beneath. A stake Iiltl is also provided between plates tit and I'M atthe fourth corner for a purpose which will later appear. An upstandinghook lfifi is also welded, to the top surface of plate ll i the upperhooked end of which has a charnfered upper surface ill and a flat lowerlatch surface lit. The welded base assembly also includes hinge buttsi532 and 484 at opposite sides thereof to which are pivoted two pincarrying welded assemblies I86 and I88.

The welded assembly I66 comprises a plate i353 which is hinged on thebutt I8 by a pin E85 and carries depending harness locking pins use andI92 at its free end which, in the lowermost position of plate I89, enterthe corresponding holes I72 in base plate l'lil. Assembly 585 also hasan upturned flange I95 to which a cover M36 is secured by rivets, thecover also being pivoted on pin I85 which is long enough to extendbeyond the hinge butt for plate I89. Also a release button assembly tillhas its generally cylindrical housing I38 welded to the upper face ofplate I89 parallel with the hinge pin I85 and carries release buttons HWand 29s at its opposite ends which extend slightly through openings 282at opposite sides of the cover.

The other welded assembly we is hinged on the butt I82 and carriesdepending harness locking pins 206 and 2626, similar to pins Hit] andI92. Assembly I88 also includes a plate 2M which has a rectangularcut-out 2558 through which the narrow hinged end of plate I89 extends.Plate 213! also carries two leaf springs 2H3 on its lower face whichbear against plate I'I i of the base assembly and constantly urge plate2st upwardly to withdraw its pins 265, 2516 well out of holes Ii2 intothe position shown in Fig. 10. At the same time the margin of cut-out2&8 in plate 28! engages the narrow hinged end of plate I89 and raisesthis plate to simultaneously withdraw its pins I90 and I92.

The upstanding hook I69 passes through aligned apertures in plates I89and 2M and, in the depressed position of the cover (Fig. 11), its latchface H3 engages two short, axially aligned and inwardly directed pins 2I2 and 2 I4 which are carried by retainers ZIS and 2I3 respectivelywhich are mounted for axial sliding movement in recesses in the housingIQB of the release button assembly. The release buttons I9il and 2M] areconstantly biased outwardly by compression springs 222 which bearagainst the adjacent retainers 2H3 and 213. Retainer tit is fixed to oneend of a long pin 224 axially slidably mounted in casing E33 and theother end of pin 224 is fixed to the more remote button 200. 1 Similarlyretainer 2 I8 is fixed to one end of slidable pin 22% which carriesbutton I99 at its opposite end. It will be evident that as the buttonsI99, 20!] are pressed inwardly, the retainers 2 I 6, 2I8 will beoppositely urged outwardly away from each other and that their latchpins ZIZ, 2 I4 will be Withdrawn from G beneath the latch face I13 ofhook I69 to release the plates ltd and 28? carrying the locking pins595, I92, 2% and 206.

The hook it carried by the shoulder straps and by the ends of the legstraps, one of which is illustrated in Fig. 13, are identical instructure and in addition to the ring through which the strap passes areprovided with a tongue portion 228which can close an aperture 236 byaction of spring 23 i. This hook is adapted to be connected loosely onone of the locking pins its, Ifit, 2M and 2%. It will be evident thatwhen the buckle is in the open position shown in Fig. 10 the hooks willnot only be released without opening but will actually be pushed off thelocking pins by the plate lit. The hook ie, however, which is attachedto the left-hand shoulder strap and engages locking pin I90 is held bystake I86 so that the buckle cc will not become totally detached fromthe harness and perhaps lost.

The pilot approaches and enters the aircraft unencumbered by anyequipment, since his parachute pack and any other packs he may need arestored in the seat and his harness is already attached to the seat bythe quick-release connections E55 at opposite sides of the seat bottomand the quick-release connection at the top of the seat back. As hetakes his place in the seat the pilot slips his arms through theshoulder straps as if he were putting on a vest, snaps the cover ofbuckle Ell to latch the cover closed and snaps hook E8 to pin W2, pinI90 having remained in engagement with the buckle 58 since stake I80 didnot allow hook it; to disengage, He then picks r ness attached inairplane, and step out of the cockpit.

In the event that he must bail out of the aircraft, .all that the pilotneed do is pull the bail-out handle le t which releases the harness fromthe seat leaving him free to make his exit with his equipment attachedto the harness. As he approaches the ground or water, the pilot pressesthe two buttons I99 and zcc and instantly releases the harness, thusavoiding the danger of becoming entangled.

It will be evident that as a result of this invention an improvedparachute and crash harness has been provided which gives fullprotection to the pilot during flight and in the event of bail out. Itwill further be evident that the improved harness is simple and reliablein use and eliminates the necessity for a separate safety belt and aseparate shoulder harness.

It will further be evident that as a result of this invention the pilotis enabled to enter and leave the aircraft unencumbered by either theharness or equipment usually associated therewith.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been shown and describedherein it will be understood that various changes may be made in theconstruction and arrangement of the parts without departing from thescope of the claims.

What it is desired to secure by Letters Patent 1. In combination, anaircraft'seat havingback and bottom portions, av parachute. packnormally stored in said seat, a harness fixedly attached to said pack,a. plurality of latch. connections fixedly attached to? the sides ofsaid bottom seat portion and movably associated withsaid back seatportion, connecting means between said harness and said latchconnections, and means controlled by an occupant while in said seat forsimultaneously releasing said latchconnections.

2. In combination, an airplane having a pilots seat, a combinedparachute; and crash harness including. a seat. sling having risers, aparachute pack; stored in said seat and attached to. said risers,shoulder and waist engaging harness members, a. plurality ofquick-release means fixedly attached to saidseat, connecting means forengaging said members. to said quick-release means and pilotoperatedmeans for simultaneously re.- leasing said connections.

3. In an aircraft, a seat, a parachute pack stored in said seat, aharness fixedly attached to' said parachute, means for releasablyconnecting said harness toencompass the occupant of said seat, means forreleasably connecting said seat to said harness; at a plurality ofpoints, means controlled by the occupant while in said seat forsimultaneously releasing all of said releasable connections between saidharness and said seat, andmeans controlled by said occupant forreleasing-said harness connections independently of said seatconnections, whereby the harness remains attached to said seat as theoccupant leaves said aircraft.

4. In an aircraft, a seat having back and bottom. portions, a parachutepack stored in said seat, a harness attached to said parachute, meansfor releasably connectingv said harness to encompass the shoulders andthighs of an occupant of said seat, latch means associated with saidback and bottom seat portions, means for releasably connecting said.harness to said latch means, meansfor adjusting saidconnection at thetop of said back portion whereby the occupant of the seat is permittedto lean forward through a limited range, means controlled by theoccupant of .said seat for simultaneously releasing said harnessconnections from said latch means, and

means controlled by said occupant. for releasing said harnessencompassing connections whereby the harness remains attached to saidseat as the occupant leaves said aircraft.

81 5-. A seat device according to claim 4- including a hinged unithaving a hinge pin adapted to be grasped by the occupant of the seat ineach of, 7

said releasable connecting means betweensaid harness and said latchmeans whereby said releasable connecting means may be individuallydisconnected by the occupant of the seat independently of saidsimultaneous latch releasing means.

6. In an aircraft, aseat having back and bottom portions, a parachutep'a'ckstored in said seat, a harness attached tosaid parachute, meansfor releasably connecting said harness to encompass the shoulders andthighs ofan occupant of said seat, releasable connections associatedwith said back and. bottom seat portions, means for releasablyconnecting said harness to said releasable connections, means foradjusting said connection at the top of said back portion whereby theoccupant of the seat is permitted to lean for-- Ward through a limitedrange, means for locking said adjusting means, means controlled by theoccupant of said seat for simultaneously releasing said harnessconnections from said releasable connections, and means controlled bysaid occupant for releasing said harness encompassing connectionswhereby the harness remain attached to said seat as the occupant leavessaid aircraft.

- ROBERT C. HEFFERNAN.

FRED N. DICKERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record. in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES: PATENTS Number Name Date 1,177,927 Calthrop Apr. 4, 19161,898,090 Lethern Feb. 21, 1933 1,899,656 Wigley etal Feb. 28, 19332,171,496 Waite et al Aug. 29, 1939 2,192,109 Smith Feb. 27, 19402,195,334 Lethern' Mar. 26, 1940 2,275,450 Manson Mar. 10, 19422,439,773 Kowalski Nov. 11, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date356,862 Great Britain Sept. 17, 1931'

